Bible Dragons!

Dragons! You have got to be kidding! No one believes in Dragons!

How can we have a serious discussion about Dragons?

But, to the citizens of Great Britain at the time that the King James Version
of the Bible was being translated dragons were a serious topic! One author in
doing his research located nearly 200 places in the area at which "dragon" sightings
had been reported. The literature of the day contained many references to dragons
and similar creatures.

In the King James Version of the Bible the Hebrew words that are translated most
often as dragon/dragons was "tanniym/tanniyn". Fig 1 below details the places in the Scriptures
where it occurs and how it is translated by the King James Version, the New King
James Version and other varying translations given by various Bible versions.

Fig1

As you can see the more modern version of the Bible, the New King James Version,
has most utilized jackals when the context indicates that a wild desert animal
is indicated and this obviously makes sense considering the wild and desert
environment of the Biblical area at the time. However, there are a number of other
passages when obviously a sea animal is indicated and where the characteristics are
such that a much larger and terrible animal are indicated. In those cases they
used monster, sea creature or serpent. From reading Isaiah 27:1 it seems obvious
that "tanniym/tanniyn" also includes the leviathan of Job 41, which is also mentioned
in Psalms 74:14 and 104:26. We obviously conclude that it can also include the
behemoth of Job 40:15.

Leviathan, a mighty sea creature with scales and terrible teeth. Arrows, swords,
stones and javelins cannot harm him and he regards iron as straw. A flame goes
out of his mouth and smoke out of his nostrils. He makes the sea boil and leaves
a shimmering wake. His heart is hard as stone and when he rises up the mighty become
afraid. Sounds like the classic dragon from the dark ages, does it not? However, the crocodile is the most likely candidate, see Appendix B.

Behemoth, he eats grass, his bones are like beams, his ribs like bars of iron, he
has power and strength in his hips and stomach muscles. His tail like a cedar is
one characteristic that has bothered many since some have proposed the hippopotamus
which has a small elephant type tail. Some have proposed the crocodile which has a strong
tail, but they are not known for eating grass. Therefore, some have proposed that
the behemoth is unlike any animal now living. It must have been one of the animals
now extinct? However, the hippopotamus is the most likely candidate, see Appendix B.

But back to dragons, are they remaining ancestors of dinosaurs? Some have proposed
so! And was the King James Version right in translating "tanniym/tanniyn" in some cases as dragon
as many have proposed? We obviously are not going to resolve this argument here!
But the following is just one example of a discovered "dragon" which received considerable
publicity, but has naturally been dismissed by many scientists. Caught by Japanese fisherman
off the coast of New Zealand at a depth of about 1000 feet. It was photographed and measured
by the ship biologist. Weighing two tons and it was 30 feet in length. The trawler's
captain ordered it thrown back into the sea for fear that it would contaminate
his catch of fish. The Japanese government issued a stamp in commemoration of the event.
For your consideration below are the photographs and sketch by the biologist.

Fig 2-6

Is it a plesiosaur, a rotting carcass of a basking shark,
a unidentified species resembling a non-shelled sea turtle, or what? If you were
a citizen of England around year 1600 AD and you came upon such a rotting carcass
on the beach, as it looks lying on the deck in the photo above, and considering
all the publicity that dragons were getting at the time, would you not believe
that you had found a dead dragon? Pretty sure that we would!(more)

And if you want a strange sea "serpent" consider the oarfish, species up to
56 feet long have been reported.

Conclusion: The Hebrew words "tanniym/tanniyn" is broad enough in scope to cover all types of
wild beasts, including those that are extinct, including
the plesiosaur, basking shark, giant shelled sea turtle, or oarfish,
all can be classified as "tanniym/tanniyn". The author
proposes that future translations would be better served by translating it as
"wild beast" and not cloud the interpretation by using the name of an animal that is
currently living. That the words of the Genesis passages can be interpreted to include all
types of animals, known living species and extinct species! Many species have gone extinct
in very recent history, many, many more than can be counted, only very rough estimates of the sea and
land creatures that have gone extinct are available. (
click here to go to the Wikipedia report on recent (Holocene) extinction) Also, nearly
ever day a new living species is discovered, some of them monsters.

Appendix B

Behemoth and Leviathan

Gen 1:21 So God created the great sea creatures ... (ESV)

Job 40:15 "Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; (ESV)

Since the 12 animals in Job 38:39-39:30 were real animals of the time it is reasonable to believe that both the Behemoth and Leviathan as revealed in Job 40 and 41 were also real living animals at that time. The totally practical nature of the book of Job in discussing real human suffering also reinforces this belief.

The power of the hippopotamus instilled a fear in Egyptians which led to a worship and a respect of the animal with whom they were forced to share territory. Thus, the hippopotamus became a central figure in Egyptian art and religion. "In Egypt the Pharaoh, in preparation for his enthronement, ritually harpooned (with the help of others) a male hippopotamus and occasionally a crocodile, to dramatize his ability to dispel chaos and maintain order. The king could carry out this difficult harpooning task only because of his supposed superhuman, god like strength. But God was showing Job that he did not have the ability. Since he could not conquer the animalistic symbols of evil, how could he subdue evil people ?" ( from "The Bible Knowledge Commentary" Victor Books, 1985 page 771)

Therefore, as many scholars have concluded, the two most likely candidates are the hippopotamus for Behemoth and the crocodile for Leviathan !!

One of the most often proposed difficulties for the Behemoth is with Job 40:17 "He moveth his tail like a cedar:". Many say this has to be one of the many extinct dinosaur species that had very large tails.

” The Hebrew word (#2654 chaphets) means “to bend, to curve;” and hence, it commonly denotes “to be inclined, favorably disposed to desire or please.” The obvious meaning here is, that this animal had some remarkable power of “bending” or “curving” its tail, and that there was some resemblance in this to the motion of the cedar-tree when moved by the wind. In “what” this resemblance consisted, or how this was a proof of its power, it is not quite easy to determine. Rosenmuller says that the meaning is, that the tail of the hippopotamus was “smooth, round, thick, and firm,” and in this respect resembled the cedar. The tail is short - being, according to Abdollatiph (see Ros.), about half a cubit in length. In the lower part, says he, it is thick, “equaling the extremities of the fingers;” and the idea here, according to this, is, that this short, thick, and apparently firm tail, was bent over by the will of the animal as the wind bends the branches of the cedar. The point of comparison is not the “length,” but the fact of its being easily bent over or curved at the pleasure of the animal." (Albert Barnes "Notes on the Bible")

The word "Leviathan" comes from the Hebrew word meaning "one who twist and coils," or "the winding one" which so well fits the crocodile since they consume food that can not be eaten in one bite by biting and then spinning or convulsing wildly until bite-size chunks are torn off. This is referred to as a "death roll." Critical to the alligator's ability to initiate a death roll, the tail must flex to a significant angle relative to its body. An alligator with an immobilized tail cannot perform a death roll.
see video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0tXM5fSFrw